Several Spartans And Wolverines Taken On Day 2 Of The NFL Draft

By Associated Press&nbsp|&nbsp

Posted: Sun 7:47 PM, Apr 27, 2008

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Jerry Reese was going to wait until the NFL Draft was over before talking about the New York Giants' second-day selections. But the general manager called an audible after the Super Bowl champions took Michigan receiver Mario Manningham with their first pick of the day at the end of the third round. Manningham has a ton of talent. He caught 137 passes for 2,310 yards and 27 touchdowns in three seasons with the Wolverines. The junior also has off-the-field problems. He recently wrote a letter to NFL executives admitting that he had failed two drug tests while in college. About a year ago, police found a prescription painkiller and a controlled substance in a car in which he was riding with two other men. Manningham was not charged, but he was suspended for a game. Reese said the Giants did their homework on Manningham and are confident that his problems are behind him. "He convinced me, he convinced our coaches and it's well documented that he made a couple of mistakes," Reese said. "He is a young kid. He is a junior. So hopefully he learned from his mistakes and he will come in here and he will give us a big play threat on the outside." Manningham spent most of his conference call discussing his problems, which he insisted are over. "I don't have any regrets," he said. "The past is the past. The past is the past. It happened and you can't take back what happened. Like I told you, I am just going to come in here with a clean head and meet my team's coaches and do what I have to do to just come in there and play and make my team better." Manningham refused to speculate whether his drug use caused him to slip to the third round. The Giants felt Manningham had the potential to be a first-round pick. "Talent-wise he really could have gone in the first row," Reese said. "But at this point at the bottom of the third row, for us, we think this is a guy that has great value and he is talented. He is really talented." Manningham doesn't believe that he will be a risky pick. "I think I can come in and make my team better and help my team win," he said. Manningham was taken with the 95th overall pick -- behind Wolverines teammate Shawn Crable, a linebacker drafted 78th by the New England Patriots. Crable, whose 28.5 tackles for loss last season was second best in the country, joins first-round pick Jerod Mayo of Tennessee, the 10th overall selection who is projected as an inside linebacker in the Patriots' 3-4 alignment. "I'm excited. I talked to him down at the Combine," Crable, who plays on the outside, said of Mayo. "He's a funny guy. I think we'll get together and try to learn together. We'll be very competitive against each other." The Chicago Bears used the 158th selection to take Michigan State tight end Kellen Davis and the 208th to take another Spartan, defensive end Ervin Baldwin. Like Manningham, a run-in with the law lowered Davis's stock. He was suspended from four games as a junior after being arrested for aggravated assault at an off-campus party. Davis said his probation ended last month. "I just told (teams) the truth," he said. "It was behind me. I was hoping to learn from it." The Indianapolis Colts drafted Michigan running back Mike Hart with the No. 202 pick. "I never questioned myself," he said. "There's nothing you can do because it's out of my hands at that point. I was just hoping I got picked up somewhere and go and try to prove myself again." Hart became Michigan's all-time leading rusher last season and broke a record with eight straight 100-yard rushing games before a high-ankle sprain slowed his season. The team MVP ran for 1,232 yards, giving him 4,911 in his career to trail just three in Big Ten history. The Kansas City Chiefs drafted Brandon Carr, a defensive back from Division II Grand Valley State, with the 140th pick. After the New Orleans Saints thought their draft was effectively over, they worked a deal to obtain a seventh-round pick from Green Bay and used it on Michigan receiver Adrian Arrington, who skipped his senior season to enter the draft. To get him, the Saints have up a sixth-round pick in 2009. The 6-3, 203-pound Arrington was a starter last season for the first time. A broken ankle sidelined him for most of 2005. During 2006, he was arrested after a fight with his girlfriend, though misdemeanor domestic violence charges were later dropped. He also was suspended from the team by then-coach Lloyd Carr during 2007 spring drills. However, he won reinstatement to the squad and had 67 catches last season for 882 yards and eight TDs.

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